Saturday 21 October 2017

A taste of Damien Hirst at Punta Della Dogana


The Damien Hirst exhibition here and at palazzo grassi (until 3rd December 2017) is called Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable.  I can honestly say I was overwhelmed.

The Shield of Achilles (Gold, silver) (114 x 112.5 x 7 cm)


I was almost overwhelmed at the Punta Della Dogana when I saw the 7 meters 13 centimeters tall bronze The Warrior and the Bear but later when I visited palazzo grassi and stood in wonderment before the monumental painted resin creation of the headless 18 meters 22 centimeters tall Demon with Bowl (a monster which overpowered even the high and airy atrium) I have to confess that  I was more than overwhelmed.

I realized then how the ancient peoples must have  felt during their uncertain times (war, famine, pestilence, flood, earthquake, mass population movement, confusion of languages and so on) when their over-dimensional monuments to their various gods and deities failed them.

Luckily before entering palazzo grassi, where my camera hand was to be soon gripped by a kind of psychological paralysis, I had taken some photos at the Punta Della Dogana.

palazzo grassi - Head of a Demon (Bronze)

All the following are to be seen at Punta Della Dogana -


Skull of a Unicorn (Gold, silver) 

Golden Monkey (Black granite) 


Sphinx (Bronze) 


Hydra and Kali (Bronze) (5m39 x 6m12 x 2m44)

The Warrior and the Bear (detail) (Bronze)

The Warrior and the Bear
(7m13 x 2m60 x2m03)

Aten
(Red marble, grey agate, gold leaf)

Guess who? 

Exhibition Entrance 
Other exhibits include: 
Metamorphosis, Calendar Stone, Proteus, Skull of a Cyclops, Bacchus, Giant Nautilus Shell, Hermaphrodite, Andromeda and the Sea Monster, the Severed Head of Medusa, a scale model of the vessel 'Unbelievable' . . . 



12 comments:

  1. People either love it or hate it. I guess you fall into the former. He has vision, that's for sure, and he can laugh at himself which counts for something. I would like to see it. One day odd bits will show up around the world.

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  2. Rachel, thanks. You beat me to it. I just put the last piece at the top. The Shield of Achilles.

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  3. __ Nifty photo collection of Hirst's eyes, mind and hands. Grand, Gwil.
    __ Too, in your intro -the third paragraph content- we in the future, may easily be referred to as "the ancient peoples." Historic parallels.

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  4. Love the skull of the unicorn.

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    Replies
    1. There were actually 3 unicorn skulls but this made for the best composition.

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  5. It is exhibitions like this that make me sad that I live so far from places where they are held.

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    1. I'm about 650 kms from Venice. Traffic was so bad it took 10 hours to get there. If I'd flown I might have ended up in Trieste because of the fog. It's been really bad in the Po basin area and diesel cars have been banned from the several cities and people told to keep their babies inside and windows closed etc.. It took me 13 hours on the inter city train onetime.

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    Replies
    1. I feel my deletion finger twitching. You've got a yellow card for this.

      Delete

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